The openness to novel ideas that challenge our own preconceived notions and expectations is essential to growth and success. At key moments in US history, Americans have drawn talented ideas from other parts of the world. When in command of Allied forces during the Second World War, Dwight Eisenhower marveled at the expansive Autobahn system of roads in Nazi Germany—so effective was it that Allied forces rapidly swept their way to Berlin. Upon becoming president of the United States, Eisenhower pioneered the Interstate Highway System and modeled it on the stunning feat of engineering from a reviled enemy. A crucial piece of infrastructure that lasted for generations and connected the vast United States, the Interstate Highway System is a product of an openness to ideas from unlikely sources. Americans can have a tendency to view their practices as ideal and immovable. The last amendment to the US constitution was ratified thirty years ago, and American government institutions face serious crises of legitimacy today in part due to their unwillingness to evolve and meet the needs of the times. One of the genius elements of the original Constitution was its ability to grow and change over time, to meet the needs of the day. It has even done so twenty-seven times already. While American democracy became a model for free peoples around the world, newer democracies have displayed powerful tools for ensuring fair representation and public investment in institutions while maintaining the long-term legitimacy of these institutions in ways that the US lacks. Modern reforms such as ranked-choice voting, utilized in countries like Ireland and now pioneered in America in places like New York City, show that democracy's strength comes in particular from its willingness to constantly improve and become "more perfect." The United States faces numerous challenges to its ability to function as a modern democracy. Global headlines have been made as the US slipped further down the famous "Freedom in the World" report from Freedom House, where the US has dropped below countries such as Romania and Mongolia due to its democratic backsliding. America's greatest periods have come from its opportunities to embrace new ways of thinking, pushing forward to build a more inclusive and more perfect union. From acknowledging the original Articles of Confederation were too flawed to continue, necessitating a new Constitution and system of government, to the triumphant victory of more broadly extended Civil Rights, America's brightest moments have come as new light revealed its better angels. Even so, both the US system of governance and its commitment to fundamental rights remain under pressure to buckle in today's age. Americans deserves honest and critical evaluation on what problems in their governance need to be fixed, and they should learn from and work with experts in democracy from around the globe to bring desperately needed reforms to a country that, from the beginning, baked into itself the opportunity to change for the better.